University of Michigan Ann Arbor Music Professor Launches Book on 20th century Philippine Music in University of the Philippines College of Music

Dr. Christi-Anne Castro, Associate Professor in Musicology, at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor is visiting the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Music to present a paper on “Musicking Race: US and Philippine Encounters” on September 3 in the afternoon and thereafter will launch her book “Musical Renderings of the Philippine Nation” (recently published by Oxford University Press). This event coincides with the 2-day conference on Southeast Asian music organized by the UP College of Music on 2-3 September 2011. The launch will take place in Abelardo Hall Auditorium from 6:15 to 7:00 PM on Saturday, Sept 3.
This book, a cultural history, focuses on music, performance, and ideologies of nation. Spanning the hundred years from the Filipino-American War to the 1998 Centennial celebration of the nation’s independence from Spain, the book has added emphasis on the period after World War II. Author Christi-Anne Castro describes the narratives of nation embedded in several major musical genres, such as classical music and folkloric song and dance, and enacted by the most well-known performers of the country, including Bayanihan, the Philippine National Dance Company and the Philippine Madrigal Singers. Castro delves into the ideas and works of prominent native composers, from the popular art music of Francisco Santiago and Lucio San Pedro to the People Power anthem of 1986 by Jim Paredes of the group Apo Hiking Society. Through both archival research and ethnographic fieldwork, Castro reveals how individuals and groups negotiate with and contest the power of the state to define the nation as a modern and hybrid entity within a global community.
A concert of immortal Philippine music classics follows the book launch at 8 PM. The book launch is free and open to the public, but the concert requires a modest paid admission of 200 pesos. For details, please call Josie at 9296963 or Yvette at 9260026.